TOXIC

Sunscreen. Foul weather gear.

Pohick is fine.

Not at all. -0- worries. You are good to go.

Welcome to 2018 where EVERYTHING is technique specific. Rods, reels, line, lures and even your sunglasses!! Sit back, pour yourself your favorite drink and read the posts and threads on this site. And yes, I still throw a slider head every now and then. ?

What are your concerns? The brackish water? If so, there's no problem. You should be more worried about dinging a prop than water damage. If you are concerned, you can always hook the motor up to a hose and flush it out when done. I fish the river on a very regular basis and have no problems.

If we could figure out what the lunkers always wanted, we'd all be on the Elite Series livin the dream!! Keep at it and good luck!! ?

Well, I run a Yamaha, and you're hard pressed to find any piece of fishing equipment that doesn't have an imported component in it. Even American rods have guides that more than likely are imported. I'm all for "Buy American" but in the fishing world that's almost impossible. ?

With a small bait on a Ned rig I don't have a problem with them lasting numerous fish. Even with the 5" rigged weightless I don't have a problem. Proper rigging is paramount with GYCB baits. ?

Am I missing something? Why the hate for Essilor?

All other factors being equal, I would then consider depth. Fish the banks where the deepest water is close by if you can tell where that is.

Unless I read it wrong you said "Pitching" which normally includes weight. The difference....profile, action, fall rate, presentation. I am a little different and if I am truly pitching I will Texas Rig a senko and use a screw in nose weight. That brings it in line with more of a pitching style. I always have a senko rigged up both ways, weighted and weightless and will throw them both.

My annual trip to St Clair is the 19th-28th of this month planned to mirror the spawn of monster smallmouth on the lake. Depending on the weather we can find them in pre/post spawn as well as on the beds. We fish the spawn because it is that one time of year when the bigger fish show themselves and are very catchable. Any other time they are harder to locate and to catch. I am still looking for my first 7lber that will be a replica mount for my wall. I have no replicas to date because I have pretty strict standards for what I want to invest the $$ in for a top notch replica. We catch and immediate release after a picture and possible a weight if it looks to be over 5lbs. Science backs up the facts that spawn fishing does not hurt the population but if you have an ethical problem with it, I understand. Since we fish for them in all stages of the spawn (not just on the bed) it makes for many 75-100 fish days in the last 15 years. I call smallmouth "Fisherman's Crack" and I'm hooked. ?

4" or 3" Senko. I don't buy into the "floating" requirement.

I'm late to the Whopper Plopper party because I waited for the prices to cool a little. Picked up a batch to use this year and see if the hype is true.

Little different......

No, not all mounting brackets are the same. Not between manufacturers and not even in the same manufacturers line all the time. You are going to have to pick out your choice of TM and mount first. Otherwise just have it made long enough and wide enough to fit all of them. It's the hole patterns that don't line up.

Your other option is to fabricate a deck even with the front that you can mount the TM to.

That's some powerful medicine right there!!

I am getting ready for my annual trip to St Clair for smallmouth. Everyone knows how much of a senko junky I am since I'm sponsored by Yamamoto?. I have almost quit throwing tubes!! There's 2 ways I rig a senko for smallmouth when I use weight. Most deadly: 1/4 oz Gamakatsu Football head rigged hook exposed. Second: A Bullet screw in weight and a 4.0 Gamakatsu EWG Hook T-Rigged for weedy areas. I fish side by side with dedicated tube throwers and equal or exceed their fish catches.

Another consideration is networking and if you ever want to utilize an Ulterex/Ulterra TM, there are features that only work with birds.

Check your guides for nicks (swab with a dry Q-Tip works for me). What kind of knots are you using and on what baits? Finally what kind of hookset are you using?

My post on the other thread was all about color.

Here is a post I put up a while ago on why I choose what I did. My opinion has not changed. Do you sight fish? Do you bed fish? Are you going to use them for driving as well? As is with most things, a jack of all trades is a master of none. Meaning, the more you narrow down what the intended purpose is, the more you will be satisfied. I was in your same position but knew I wanted a "quality" pair of mixed use glasses. My problem was that I decided to go with my first prescription pair. Up until then, I just used off the shelf medium quality fishing, polarized sunglasses (Solar Bat). I found that bed fishing on Lake St Clair, I was not seeing the same detail my fishing partners were. They were spotting fish on beds where I was just able to see the bed. I knew it wasn't the glasses fault so I figured it was my need for a prescription. Once I started checking into prescription quality sunglasses, I was floored at the prices. I was griping about my experience at a show I was working and come to find out one of the guys I regularly worked shows with who was a reel rep, had a day job as a lense manufacturer in a lab. I got an education that day. Let me sum it up: 1. Cheap sunglasses are cheap for a reason. Don't skimp on your eyes. 2. Only very, very, few manufacturers make their own Rx lenses. Some that may surprise you that do not are Costa, Maui Jim, and a lot of others. Once you go Rx, they pull their lenses out, send the frames to a lab and you get the quality of the lense the lab produces. So you have just paid big bucks for a designer name stamped on the frame!! 3. In our freshwater fishing applications, NEVER go with glass lenses. Yes, the optics are better but a 1/4 oz weight or jig that hits them will put glass into your eye. Shatterproof or not. Not worth the risk. 4. Best "overall" mixed use color is grey. Get specific and the color choices change. Yes, amber will be best for low light but wear them on a bright sunny day and you'll be disappointed. Dark grey will allow you to almost look directly into the sun and would be great driving into the sun but will be like night fishing on a cloudy day. That's why I went with medium grey. 5. Get frames that fit your head. There is nothing like the headache you will get from bad fitting sunglasses after a day on the water. I ended up with a pair of Rx Oakley that once I picked out the right fitting frame, got sent back to Oakley for them to make the lense. This was after they put clear lenses in the frame and used a sharpie to mark all of the proper points on the lense for my prescription (progressive). I got a medium dark grey with a blue mirror. I use them for driving and fishing and do not know how I ever got along without them.

I live in the forest. I have snakes. Lots of snakes. There is no such thing as a "bad" snake in my book. While I don't like seeing Copperheads around the house, I will carefully re-locate them the the forest a good ways from the house. My daughter (now 20) grew up in my current house and one of the first things she learned was snake identification. She is better at it than I am. I have a Black snake female that regularly takes up residence between my driveway and my garage and has for years. I know it's an old wives tale that Black snakes keep Copperheads away but I can tell you that the years she decides to nest under my driveway, we NEVER see a Copperhead. As a matter of fact, I firmly believe that I have had more than one generation of Black snake use that den since it has been happening for over 20 years. I have a row of bushes across the front of the house that the big Blacksnake comes out and suns on. My daughter when in middle-school actually took her in for a school project and brought her back at the end of the day. I have found her in my garage and on my deck as well. As a matter of fact, I saw her for the first time this year about a week ago. This is a much smaller female than in the past. A few years ago I had one that measured out right at 6 feet.

One characteristic of braid that I don't like....After catching a "good" fish, the line gets "sticky" (what I call it) because it digs in somewhat. How far and how much usually depends on the size of the fish and how much pressure they put on the reel. Also, normally with braid, I have my drag cranked down a lot more than I would with other line types so there is more resistance. After landing a bigger fish on braid, I habitually peel off a bout a casts worth of line and re-feed it back on the reel. I also spool braid very tight right from the beginning but after casting and getting wet, the line will relax on the spool. That's if you are still good on your casting technique as you mentioned. ?